Horizon Worlds
The clearest case that capital does not manufacture footfall. Scored here because omitting it would make the Atlas a list of survivors rather than an assessment.
Scored against the six conditions
Each score has written reasoning, so a disagreement can be with one number rather than with the assessment.
Persistence
Worlds persist while the publisher continues to fund the division, which has been cut repeatedly.
Enforceable scarcity
None. Space is allocated by the publisher and revocable by it, which is the same position a tenant holds without the lease.
Footfall
Never reached the population its investment implied.
A unit that leaves
Limited creator monetisation, repeatedly revised, and never at a scale that supported a business the creator could plan around.
Standing that travels
Locked to the platform account, on a platform whose account system has already been migrated once.
Labour that never sleeps
No agent model, and no third-party ecosystem building one, because there is no population to serve continuously.
Studio assessment, dated 2026-08-28. Rubric and method: the Atlas. Price data where referenced: CoinGecko Research.
Position disclosed: Metaverse Group holds no position in Horizon Worlds.
Scoring a world we hold without saying so would be the most damaging thing this studio could publish. The disclosure is generated from one source and appears wherever the world does.
Where it sits
| World | Score | Family |
|---|---|---|
| Decentraland | 13/18 | Open world |
| Somnium Space | 13/18 | Open world |
| The Sandbox | 13/18 | Open world |
| Otherside | 10/18 | Open world |
| Roblox | 9/18 | UGC platform |
| Bitmap | 8/18 | Bitcoin-native |
| Fortnite Creative | 8/18 | UGC platform |
| Minecraft | 8/18 | UGC platform |
| VRChat | 8/18 | UGC platform |
| Apple Vision Pro | 7/18 | Spatial surface |
| Horizon Worlds | 4/18 | Publisher world |
The full league table and rubric: the Atlas.